Women’s Soccer Captures First Landmark Championship with 1-0 Win over Susquehanna

Women’s Soccer Captures First Landmark Championship with 1-0 Win over Susquehanna

11/7/09

WASHINGTON--Junior forward Kelly Donnelly (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) scored in the 67th minute as the CUA Women’s Soccer team defeated Susquehanna University 1-0 to capture the 2009 Landmark Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon. The top seeded Cardinals, now 17-2-1, claim their first Landmark title and will advance to their second NCAA Tournament.

The Cardinals came out attacking in the first half, controlling the ball in Susquehanna's end of the field and putting the Crusader defense under constant pressure. Freshman Caitlin Conroy (Telford, Pa./Souderton) and sophomore Caitlin Brett (Mercerville, N.J./Nottingham) pulled the strings for the CUA offense that peppered Susquehanna goalkeeper Alyssa Kemmerer with eight shots. Conroy led the way with four shots, one of which was a dart from outside the box that was punched over the crossbar at the very last second by Kemmerer.

The second half began to even out between CUA and SU as each team generated shots in their respective ends of the field. The stalemate was broken when senior Diana Spadaro (Stony Point, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) gathered a ball down the left flank and served a high cross that sailed over the goalkeeper's head. Donnelly was waiting on the far side of the box to bang home her 14th goal of the season and see the Cardinals take a 1-0 lead.

The Cardinals defense, led by seniors Helene Nicoletti (Haddonfield, N.J./Haddonfield) and Chelsea King (Prospect, Ky./Presentation), stood strong all day as they held the Crusaders to only four shots on goal en route to their twelfth shutout of the year. Senior goalkeeper Tere Rossi (Annandale, Va./Falls Church) earned the win. The Cardinals offense registered 12 shots, and also had four corners to one for Susquehanna.

CUA returns to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. Winning the Landmark championship earned the team the conference's first-ever automatic bid to the tournament. The NCAA will announce the tournament pairings on Monday. Check out www.cuacardinals.com for all information as soon as it is released.